Underground Gallery is proud to present All This, and Heaven Too, a solo exhibit by Los Angeles artist Stephanie Mercado. Through a combination of media, her work explores the pursuit of the American Dream, its origins, and its effect on one's desire to buy and to own. Acquisitions, and the act of acquiring, become symbols of an assumed higher status within a reality predicated upon consuming.

In her work, houses become icons and the use of pattern represents the need to adorn, embellish and personalize one's possessions in an attempt to form an identity. Elements of cartography personify land and real-estate, and one's curiosity to categorize, explore and conquer the unknown. Intricately detailed dry point engravings are created through carefully scratched lines offering a rich tonal range, with an antiquated feel. 17th century style dresses take the form of sculptures, which mimic in three dimensional form, the visual language illustrated in her two dimensional works. Through her couture-like dress sculptures and fine art production, she investigates how material objects become markers of success and define notions of identity.

The resulting body of work merges fashion with painting and works on paper, to combine historical images with contemporary issues, and to redraw and reinterpret imagery that has shaped our ideas of prosperity and ultimately reality, for generations.

Stephanie Mercado received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Drawing, Painting and Printmaking through California State University Long Beach.